Freelance demonstrators protesting against Brexit were paid

Freelance demonstrators protesting against Brexit were paid thousands of pounds by an organisation linked to Max Mosley, it emerged yesterday.

The campaigners, from a group called the Fair Vote Project, were hired to increase support for a second EU referendum during a protest in Parliament Square.

But it has emerged the group received a £25,000 donation from an organisation called Byline Festival in which Mr Mosley, the former F1 owner accused of printing a racist leaflet, holds shares. 

Byline Festival is run by Peter Jukes, who live-tweeted throughout the Leveson Inquiry into the Press, and its project director is Kyle Taylor, who previously worked for pro-Remain group Best for Britain.

The Fair Vote Project says it is committed to ‘publishing whistleblower evidence connected to possible cheating in the referendum’. 

It campaigns for a second poll. It was founded by a consultant who worked for the anti-Brexit group Best for Britain that was set up by prominent Remain campaigner Gina Miller and part-funded by George Soros. The group is reported to have hired up to 30 people to target thousands travelling to work to convince them of the need for a second referendum.

The teams, armed with megaphones and placards handed out leaflets in Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham and London. They urged people to join a protest in Parliament Square to call for a second and ‘fair’ vote.

Mr Mosley is currently facing the possibility of a perjury investigation as Scotland Yard assesses a dossier detailing his links to a racist pamphlet which was revealed by the Mail. He insists the suggestion that he lied under oath was ‘obviously nonsense’.

Mr Jukes told The Daily Telegraph that Mr Mosley had no involvement in the running of the Fair Vote Project or the Byline Festival, which holds an annual three-day event in East Sussex. The Byline website says it subscribes to Impress, the controversial state-approved Press regulator backed by charities which are funded by Mr Mosley. His lawyer did not respond to requests for comment.

Mr Mosley is currently facing the possibility of a perjury investigation as Scotland Yard assesses a dossier detailing his links to a racist pamphlet